Sunday, January 22, 2006

Juggertha's Wall

Well, I have been doing quite my share of drawing lately (while my wife was visiting relatives this weekend) and I think I am taking up too much room on this blog for just my art.

So, if you are looking for any more of my stuff, please be so kind as to direct yourself to
http://virtue-art.blogspot.com/

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Captain Corea & SHEN

Well, my lovely wife went over to her aunt's for most of the day so I figured I'd keep myself busy.

Here is my ESL persona (I tried for speed on this one)
Captain Corea And another friend's character in CoH
SHEN

Ultimate Kaos

I did this one for another on-line friend. I think I'm starting to find a bit of a vibe (we'll see how long that lasts).
Ultimate Kaos

Sunday, January 15, 2006

The Kite Runner


A good friend of mine Nancy recommended this book to me. She is an avid reader and swore this one was so powerful it moved her to tears. Previously I have never really felt all that emotional about a book. Most of the ones I had read, being History books, bordered on either sad or grotesque, if they did approach any emotion at all. Having read The Kite Runner though, and being near tears no less than 6 times while reading it, I now have a higher expectation for any book to follow.

The Kite Runner is about a young man growing up in pre-Taliban Afghanistan. It follows his lifeas he tries to find his way into his father's heart and his own. I really don't want to go into more details other than to say it spans a life wrought with inner and outer conflict.

My only fear in talking about this book to anyone is that I might hype it up too much that they are disappointed by the time they actually read it. Much like so many people have done in their attempts to describe movies. So, I'll just finish by saying, read it and enjoy it.

*ps. I finished it in two days if that is any indicator.

R3PUBLIK and STRAIN

Just thought I'd add two more pictures I've drawn of late. Both are originals that I used either a real model for or a game image. I'm trying to get more co-ordinated using this pen while at the same time getting my proportions in-sync.

R3PUBLIK

STRAIN

Friday, January 13, 2006

The Jugurthine War - Sallust


I had read this book in University and really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much so, that I took the name and have used it for most of my online life. Juggertha, my online alter-ego was taken from the Numidian Prince Jugurtha. Jugurtha had an interesting history...

Jugurtha was born into the royal family of Numidia. And, while he was not actually the King's son, he enjoyed the admiration of the court. Even the king's legitimate two sons looked up to Jugurtha. He was a powerful, intelligent, and honest young man and he held the acclaim of the people.

While this may have appeared to be a good thing, soon jealousy raised it's head... Over the King. He had come o see Jugurtha as a threat and wanted him done away with. A chance came when his Roman allies had requested aid for their war in Gaul. The King sent Jugurtha in the hopes that he might be lost in battle.

Instead, Jugurtha proved himself a mighty warrior and not only earned the respect of his Roman compatriots, but heightened the reputation of his country in Rome. Having heard the reports of his deeds, the King welcomed Jugurtha back with open ams and pledged the kingdom to him.

The problem was, was that the King was going senile and within a short time would be dead. After his death Numidia was divided amongst Jugurtha and he two Princes. This did not hold for long as trust soon diminished and tension mounted so Jugurtha saw fit to cut through them both - by cutting the throat of one of the young Princes.

War soon followed and the other Prince sought help from Rome. Rome agreed that Jugurtha should respect the peace and end the fighting but within a shorttime he was at it again. Eventually he had pulled the last Prince from a city and cut him to ribbons and had set the fury of the whole Roman Empire down on him.

If you want to know what happened next, read the book!

Korea's place in the sun - Cumings


I had heard about this book from the moment I had started to take an interest in Korean history. I had heard rumors that Cumings asserted that it was the South that had actually started the Korean war, and that he often let the North of with only a small flick of negativity.

After reading the book cover to cover I have to say, he did not say that the South invaded first... not really. He definitely left it open for the possibility of forces other than the North starting the war though. Honestly, I don't really disagree with him on that one so I'll leave that point for now.

What bothered me about this book was more his writing. I may not be the most edumacated man out there but I did not appreciate how he flowed from a casual sentence using some out-dated idiom to a full-bore professorial rant that would make a masters student snore.

over all, I don't think I'd read it again. It had some good points and it is always good to get a different perspective, but I just didn't enjoy his all that much.